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Description

This issue has been reported to the police on multiple occasions to no avail. The building on the eastern end of the 2200 block of Saint Albans is falling apart, with broken and boarded-up windows. Yet it still houses a suspicious-looking "Checks Cashed" store and several unsavory characters, while serving as the location for the ongoing, blatant and shameless sale of both drugs and sexual favors. This is unsightly, a fire hazard, and a drive-by waiting to happen, despite the police's nonchalance. Please help us stop this!

21 Comments

B.A.(Guest)

I live very close to this location also and have seen drug and potential prostitution activity here. There is a light on in the main store location, and based on the condition of the building and trash in the back yard area I am unsure as to why this building has not been condemned. Who takes formal complaints about this property?

C.R.G.(Guest)

Please provide the address(es) of the vacant buildings so that we can follow up with Licenses and Inspections.

To report drug activity, you can either contact the Narcotics Hotline at 215-686-8477/78 or the Nuisance Task Force Unit at 215-686-5858.

You can also ask about a Roll Call Complaint at your local Police District. Once the police receive the report, it is posted on a complaint board that is routinely read to officers during six daily roll calls. These announcements continue for a minimum of fifteen calendar days. The information reported in the complaint is recorded by the individual officers in their patrol notebooks and are responded to by patrol officers between calls for service.

Following the initial fifteen day announcement and response period, the complainant may be contacted and a follow-up review initiated. If, following this review, the complaint has been definitively resolved, the case is considered closed. If, however, the problem or condition still requires police attention, the complaint will be reinstituted for an additional fifteen days and may be the subject of additional, specifically tailored problem-solving measures aimed at satisfying the need for final resolution of the problem.

Please include as much information as you can. Incomplete or inaccurate information will delay processing of this report and may compromise their ability to quickly and effectively respond.

Anonymous(Guest)

BA(Guest)

Thanks for the information about who to contact and what can be done. The address is not found on the building so I do not know the address. The apartments above the vacant Check Cashing business on the corner of 22nd and St. Albans St., Phila, Pa 19146 is the best I can do. The next time I see activity, I will report it.

BA(Guest)

Neighbors following this issue, PLEASE report what you see. 311 responded to this complaint with the following information: To report drug activity, you can either contact the Narcotics Hotline at 215-686-8477/78 or the Nuisance Task Force Unit at 215-686-5858.

You can also ask about a Roll Call Complaint at your local Police District. Once the police receive the report, it is posted on a complaint board that is routinely read to officers during six daily roll calls. These announcements continue for a minimum of fifteen calendar days. The information reported in the complaint is recorded by the individual officers in their patrol notebooks and are responded to by patrol officers between calls for service.

Reopenedhg(Guest)

That's enough of this!!! The city wants people to come here and pay $400,000 for homes and put up with this lack of law enforcement? Get rid ot this structure and put this block on police roll call for every shift !!

Long Time Resident(Guest)

You people are embellishing. We know you don't want this type of business in the neighborhood that you 'recently' moved to. Why are you spreading lies and untruths? And we know it's probably that so called reporter who lives in the neighborhood, the same one who has an unnatural fixation on the long time residents. Yes, the same one who was banned some yrs ago from a deactivated blog. Yes the same one running around with a camera on loan by the Inky. We see and hear you constantly crying wolf! Enough and please move away. We don't want you in our neighborhood any longer, incessantly causing problem after problem.

ad(Guest)

And by "you people," you mean your neighbors?

This is not the type of building (dilapidated) that anyone should want in a neighborhood, regardless of the business. I have to say that walking by when people are hanging out on the sidewalk, I've had some inappropriate comments directed my way as well as offered some unsavory services. I agree that it ought to be on the roll call. We'll let the police make the decisions about what's going on there when they see it for themselves. As neighbors we should be concerned at any suggestion of this sort of behavior happening on our streets.

Long Time Resident - thank you for your perspective; it's good to have a mix of opinions in this sort of site.
I started this thread out of frustration at having reported the issue to the police on multiple occasions without any discernable change; I'd be interested in hearing your perspective! Is this much better than it used to be? Were there similar problems in the neighborhood that were effectively remedied in other ways?

I do think that there are some significant concerns with the building in question, and I think it would really be great if the "Checks Cashed" place could be replaced with an establishment that all of us could benefit from, like a convenience or grocery store; it would be great to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

I think I speak for everyone who's dedicated enough to visit this site when I say that nobody wants to push out residents who have been around for longer; it's really just a forum for trying to bring attention to things that could make our neighborhoods safer, cleaner and more pleasant for everyone who lives here.

Just to set the record straight, I'm not a reporter, and I don't have a camera on loan, and I've never been banned from anything, except once in high school I was told that I'd have to tuck my shirt in if I wanted to stay in the chess club.